Chapter 20
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This chapter is edited by Bakhtawar Kakar. Thank you for your contribution!
Chapter 20: Is There Such a Thing? Hit Him, Son of a Bitch!
Bai Lian had a good sleep.
She had originally planned to read medical books through the night, but after being disturbed by Xia Qingqing, she lost the mood to study.
It’s better to sleep. Don’t think about anything, and then you can wake up naturally, she thought.
Bai Lian didn’t rise until noon. After using a spell to clean herself, she stepped out of her room feeling refreshed.
Beneath her lay a boundless forest, green and vibrant.
Bai Lian knew she was only a few hundred miles away from the Huaxin Sect. To avoid drawing attention, the Aurora Boat had stopped here. Everyone had disembarked and was flying to the sect on their swords.
By now, the members of the Ten Thousand Immortals League should have already entered the Huaxin Sect.
Bai Lian thought of Si Yunshang.
After a simple disguise, she knocked on Si Yunshang’s door.
At that moment, Si Yunshang was confronted by blood—blood, and more patches of blood.
The location was the forbidden area used by the Huaxin Sect to imprison captives.
Unlike the White Tiger Hall, many people lived here. But there were no ordinary individuals among them.
When she and Bai Lian stepped through the iron door, their feet sticky with blood, the prisoners in the cages didn’t even lift their heads.
They stared blankly into the void.
No one knew what they were thinking. Perhaps they had stopped thinking altogether, existing merely for the sake of existing.
“Sister… hey, sister…”
The faint call from the corner made Si Yunshang turn her head.
She saw a bony teenager holding a skeletal hand, giggling foolishly. Occasionally, he rubbed the hand against his cheek.
He was the only one moving in the entire space.
Yet, his liveliness made Si Yunshang’s heart feel heavier.
Had the captives taken from the boat experienced this same level of despair?
By comparison, she felt almost fortunate.
“All the living captives are here?” Bai Lian asked, frowning at a Huaxin Sect disciple.
“That’s right.”
“Thank you.”
Without hesitation, Bai Lian turned and delivered a punch that blew off the disciple’s head.
Her body, shielded by a layer of spirit Qi, remained untouched by the splattered blood.
“Let’s go. The Ten Thousand Immortals League will handle this—they’re familiar with such things.”
“Okay.”
Si Yunshang followed Bai Lian out of the blood-soaked forbidden area, eager to find a place with fresh air.
She had thought she’d feel immense satisfaction watching the Huaxin Sect crumble, but now she realized she was wrong.
Grief?
Perhaps that was the emotion weighing on her heart.
Without the Ten Thousand Immortals League, countless more people would fall victim as sacrifices for the revival of the Demon Souls.
Are Demon Souls nobler than the souls of ordinary people?
The world seemed vast, but that was only true for cultivators.
Lower-class civilians had never been able to control their destinies.
Si Yunshang felt powerless.
“If Fairy Bai Lian encountered this situation, what would you do?”
Bai Lian thought for a while. What Si Yunshang referred to was the “Bai Lian in others’ eyes.” If it were truly her…
“She would try her best to save everyone she meets.”
“And what about you, Miss Chen Lu?”
“Chen Lu” raised her fist and waved it. “Is there such a thing? Beat these bastards!”
Si Yunshang was momentarily stunned.
After a few breaths, she chuckled.
“So, you punched that man in the head?”
“Yes,” Bai Lian replied seriously. “Not only you, Miss Si, but even I felt angry! Even stories about ‘paper people’ can stir people’s hearts, let alone seeing living individuals suffering right in front of us.”
(“Paper people” refers to virtual characters in novels, anime, or games.)
“What are paper people?”
“The characters in the picture.”
“What if it’s a painting on a board?”
“Plank people?”
Si Yunshang smiled and fell silent again. “I can’t be Fairy Bai Lian, nor can I be you.”
Bai Lian said, “Just be yourself.”
“But…” Si Yunshang murmured, “I don’t even know who I am.”
Last night, she had another dream—a longer dream that she didn’t dare to share with Chen Lu.
Bai Lian replied, “How many people truly know who they are? I don’t know.”
Everyone says she’s a Natural Saint, but she knows she is not. Still, if she can pretend to be a Natural Saint for a lifetime, then perhaps she truly is one.
The great philosopher Bai Lian shared her thoughts with Si Yunshang. “Because you don’t know, you know. This is a question that needs to be answered over a lifetime!”
Si Yunshang nodded in astonishment.
So abstruse, she thought. She could only understand the latter part of the sentence.
However, her time was running out. She had no time to seek the right solution to this question. She could only write a random answer.
Bai Lian suddenly stood up. “Miss Si, you should rest first. I’ll stop those who try to escape.”
“Umm.”
Bai Lian’s mind was filled with the words she had said moments ago:
“Beat these bastards!”
The Huaxin Sect not only captured innocent civilians, but they also employed cruel methods to break their prisoners’ psychological defenses and render them completely hollow.
Without their memories, even if the survivors in the forbidden area returned to normal, they would never be the people they once were.
With one swing of her sword, Bai Lian shattered the prison chains into hundreds of pieces. Her fist pierced the chest of the evil cultivator in front of her, sending blood splattering everywhere.
None of the escaping cultivators were her match.
Si Yunshang looked at Bai Lian’s slim figure and thought there was a divine light faintly radiating from her face.
There are no true “saints” in this world, and the world will never achieve the “Great Harmony” spoken of by the sages. But if there were more people like “Chen Lu,” the world would still be lovely.
Bai Lian wiped the blood from her blade.
She returned to Si Yunshang, having sent the jade rabbit to secretly protect her two younger Martial Sisters.
According to the jade rabbit’s report, the Ten Thousand Immortals League had broken through the Huaxin Sect’s last forbidden array. The sect leader had been severely beaten, and the most powerful Demon Soul had been torn to pieces without even having a chance to cry out.
Hearing this, Si Yunshang’s eyes filled with confusion.
It felt unreal, yet the Huaxin Sect was indeed about to be completely destroyed.
Her wish had come true.
Si Yunshang didn’t feel joy.
She looked at Bai Lian’s expressionless face and muttered, “I used to admire Fairy Bai Lian so much. I made her my goal, hoping to meet her and become like her. If Fairy Bai Lian were a man, perhaps I’d want to marry her.”
“?”
“But after meeting Fairy Bai Lian, I realized she and I are different. We’re not the same. Even if I were truly with her, I probably couldn’t stand her serious attitude for long.”
Si Yunshang continued, “Miss Chen, I hated you so much at first. I even wanted to kill you.”
“…”
“But after spending a few days with you, I changed my view. In fact, you’re a very good person. Although you have many shortcomings—being rough, brutal, foul-mouthed, lying, insidious, and cunning…”
Does that sound familiar?
Bai Lian recalled how Si Yunshang had scolded her with those same words when she first captured her.
What are you trying to say?! Bai Lian wondered, confused.
Si Yunshang covered her mouth and chuckled. “But if I had to choose between Prince Bai Lian and Master Chen Lu as a lover, I’d definitely choose Master Chen Lu, flaws and all.”
“?”
Bai Lian’s expression changed slightly.
This…
Was this a disguised confession?
Impossible.
Figures of her Martial Sisters and master flashed through Bai Lian’s mind.
She had shared three and a half years in a cave with An Lan, and she had worked tirelessly to raise her two younger Martial Sisters to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
The days ahead were still long.
There was no response.
Of course, there wouldn’t be one. Si Yunshang had expected as much.
Bai Lian watched Si Yunshang slowly fall unconscious, and two new task options appeared before her eyes:
[Task 1: Find a way to revive Si Yunshang (Reward: Supreme Real Elixir)]
[Task 2: Don’t do anything (Reward: Alchemy +2)]
The Supreme Real Elixir could reshape the soul. It was a medical pill greater than any top-grade magic tool.
Bai Lian held Si Yunshang’s cold hand.
It was growing colder and colder.
If you have a *“Golden Finger,” now is the time to use it.
[*someone who can be considered very skillful.]
